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AVID gears up for growth with £1 million investment

Automotive cleantech firm AVID Technology has invested over £1 million in the expansion of its manufacturing capabilities at its headquarters in North East England.

A market leader in the design and manufacture of electrified powertrain systems for the electric and hybrid vehicle industry, AVID’s investment in a state-of-the-art electronics surface mount (SMT) manufacturing facility and new test equipment is set to increase production of automotive electronics and powertrain technology, and enable the company to diversify into the robotics and power generation industries.

Ryan Maughan, managing director of AVID Technology Group Ltd, explains: “Our strategy is to increase turnover to £50 million in the next 3-5 years as a specialist supplier of technology for electric vehicles, robotics and industrial electronics by growing our presence in the field of systems electrification.

“We aim to achieve this through new investment in three key areas of the business, the supply of electrified powertrain systems to heavy duty and high performance vehicles, the supply of fuel saving technology to the marine and power generation markets, and the introduction of a full design, test and manufacturing service for control electronics and motor systems for robotics and industrial equipment.”

AVID’s new SMT line is designed to meet the rigorous quality demands of the company’s customer base. The facility incorporates a dedicated clean room with full electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection and automatic optical inspection at both the solder print and component placement stages. The high-speed precision technology allows AVID assemble electronic devices in an accurate and repeatable manner for a huge range of applications.

AVID’s core expertise is the design of power electronics and motors used in electric and hybrid vehicle powertrain systems, such as pumps, fans and more recently propulsion.

The company’s knowledge and pioneering technology is used by manufacturers of heavy duty and high performance electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicle powertrains for efficient thermal management, lubrication and drive systems.

This includes high performance passenger cars manufacturers and motorsport to heavy duty buses, trucks and off highway machinery. AVID’s technology also has many functions in actuation the propulsion of robotics and autonomous systems.

“We’ve seen a strong rise in demand for power electronics, motors and controls for non-automotive applications which we are keen to capitalise on by leveraging our skills, assets and brand awareness in the market.

“There is a great deal of synergy between what we have perfected in the automotive industry that we can bring to new sectors seeking high integrity electronics and motion solutions. This, together with our planned programme of investment and development in people, plant and technology will allow us to grow our presence in the systems electrification industry by providing effective, tried and tested solutions for both new and existing customers throughout the world,” said Ryan.

Optimum Technical Solutions Ltd in Manchester supply a wide range of production equipment to the Electronics Industry, they installed a new SE Automation Peak 400 wave soldering machine as part of AVID’s new investment.

Managing director Peter Bagshaw commented: “AVID is an industry leader at the forefront of the design and manufacture of electrified powertrain and advanced thermal management system technology. They know our product well and we know what their expectations are in terms of support and we are delighted to be involved in this new project which I am sure will be a resounding success.”

In the video below Ryan explains the SMT investment and what it means for them: